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I get it, but we don't have entire movies mocking their appearance and making them the butt of jokes.

But maybe we should - of course, I wouldn't need to go see such a movie as I get to live it everyday. As far as making someone feel unwelcome in a public place - I think it's perfectly acceptable sometimes - with the drug addict, for example. But I wasn't making such a reference to fat people.

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Fat people are the last socially acceptable brunt of jokes. Away from the anonymity of the internet, racists are smart enough to only make jokes with their rascist friends, homophobes the same. But just about everyone shuts up if someone makes a fat joke.

I was way older than Magnolia when my weight went over 200 pounds, so while people didn't moo, I did feel invisible. Funny how the smaller I got, the more people could see me. It's a cruel world. If I could afford it, I'd most likely become a shut-in.

"Right is right, even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong, even if everyone is doing it." - St. Augustine

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People seem to be making an erroneous jump though from "I don't support the fat acceptance movement" to "I want fat people to die in a fire while we all point and laugh."

I don't know, maybe things are better for fat chicks now. But they don't deserve the abuse hurled at them because let's face it, they aren't hurting anyone else (like say, a meth lab owner). I guess if you think it is OK for adult aged people to throw stuff at a fat person and call her a cow while she is trying to do work because she "needs to lose weight since she will cost us medical bills" or any other one of the other justifications, then well, there ya are. I think the people of the Fat Acceptance movement are more about ending that kind of stuff then trying to make us think fat people are sexy and healthy. I don't support the idea of thinking it is OK for your health to be obese. But I support the idea that the obese should be able to pursue life without dealing with cruelty.

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I'm not advocating cruelty or making fun of anyone because of their weight. And magnolia1973, I'm sorry those things happened to you.
I understand the medical/healthcare argument from a logical perspective, but everyone's guilty of making a personal choice to do something that could result in lots of medical expenses. I need to stop climbing mountains and riding my bicycle without a helmet because I'll cost someone money someday. Yeah ... but this isn't the socio-political nerd rage thread so I'll leave that at that
It's the reactionary [to the people who call fat girls cows, etc] extremists who are most vocal that tend to irritate me. The ones who try to demonize "society" for making them feel bad about themselves and call anyone who doesn't want to date them "shallow" or "superficial." The ones who say that people shouldn't try to improve themselves. Then again, the people who I've actually met who are like this are vegans/vegetarians, so maybe they're just pissed off/mentally unstable because they're not getting enough protein and fat?

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I'm not advocating cruelty or making fun of anyone because of their weight. And magnolia1973, I'm sorry those things happened to you.

Yeah, but just know that it isn't just me. It has probably happened to every woman between the ages of 12 and 25 that had to go to the Lane Bryant to buy clothes. I look back on it and I never said anything. And it got really, really ugly including someone writing Mag has an immense ass on my supply locker. It was like that the whole year. Imagine some writing Mags is a nigger. Pretty sure someone would have done something. I really never told anyone how I was treated because I was ashamed of myself. I do now, only because I am a socially acceptable size 12.

I see some parallels to how homosexuals, african americans and fat people are treated. Except it is not acceptable to treat african americans like that anymore, quickly becoming unacceptable to treat homosexuals that way (thank god), but still OK to treat fat people like that. I'm glad to hear that fat women are getting a voice and getting mad about how they are treated. I was not aware that there were fat people running around complaining about people not wanting to date them. I checked out their website and a lot of it was concern over cruelty at school and in the work place, and some medical issues.

I feel like if you are overweight, you should expect some limitations and that not everyone will find you attractive or be able to accomodate you. But you should be able to pursue what you can pursue without being harassed. I think people are often unaware of the harassment that goes on and how it affects people.

And yeah- there are still blonde jokes, conservative jokes, redhead jokes.... a lot of people get made fun of. But when it is direct harassment, it hurts. It's a little different for me to see the dumb blonde on TV vs. listening to a classmate tell me about breaking my horses back because I was so fat in front of a teacher (who said nothing).

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I'm tired of this debate, both sides usually come out looking poorly. I know what I want my body to look like (based on what's possible with my genetics and metabolism). I know what body types I find sexually attractive in potential partners. I know how to eat healthy. Caring too much about what other people are eating and what they weigh is only going to put me in a bad mood, so I avoid it. I do think modern society is broken in many ways when it comes to nutrition, health, and weight; but if someone is happy and confident in the way they look, power to them. Honestly.

People can make a lot of personal remarks when you are unusually thin, and I've had plenty of negative feedback in my life. I've always been underweight for my height (naturally so, I have a very small frame - and I have a big butt for my size, and visible muscles in my upper body, so these days people don't think of me as 'skinny' even though my BMI is hitting 18 for the first time in my life, and I am 27). However I have had many overweight friends in my life, some of them carrying over 100 extra pounds, and our experiences can't and shouldn't be compared. Most people get made fun of at some point, but the level of vicious cruelty fat people often are the target of is a whole other level... just my two cents.

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John Lennon said that woman is the n***er of the world. If you have big breasts men gawk and make jokes. If you're blonde, men make jokes. If you're a lesbian, they say you just haven't met the right dick. If you're smart, they call you castrating. If you make more money than they do, they cheat with someone less threatening. If you're fat, they moo. If you're thin, they tell you that you need some butter.

If women were as cruel to men as men are to women, the average man would need pills to get it up.

"Right is right, even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong, even if everyone is doing it." - St. Augustine

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John Lennon said that woman is the n***er of the world....
If women were as cruel to men as men are to women, the average man would need pills to get it up.

If this is true for you, you may want to re-consider the men you're hanging out with and trying to impress. The relationship game goes both ways. Lots of women overlook the smart, considerate guys because they don't match many of women's ideal mate. Same goes for men. There are lots of quality people who don't measure up to our standards of physical attraction. As for John Lennon - sounds like he was a first-class prick to his first wife.